Things You Can't Say
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of See You in the Cosmos and Where the Watermelons Grow, author Jenn Bishop's latest novel tells the moving story of a boy determined to uncover the truth.
Nothing is going right this summer for Drew. And after losing his dad unexpectedly three years ago, Drew knows a lot about things not going right. First, it’s the new girl Audrey taking over everything at the library, Drew’s sacred space. Then it’s his best friend, Filipe, pulling away from him. But most upsetting has to be the mysterious man who is suddenly staying with Drew’s family. An old friend of Mom’s? Drew isn’t buying that.
With an unlikely ally in Audrey, he’s determined to get to the bottom of who this man really is. The thing is, there are some fears—like what if the person you thought was your dad actually wasn’t—that you can’t speak out loud, not to anyone. At least that’s what Drew thinks.
But then again, first impressions can be deceiving.
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The children's room in the library is 12-year-old Drew's happy place, where he does puppet shows for younger kids without any peers around to make fun until new kid Audrey, also 12, shows up and takes over the room. If that's not enough to ruin his summer, his best friend, Felipe, has grown distant, and Phil, an old friend of Drew's mother, suddenly arrives for a visit. It's been three years since Drew's father committed suicide, and Phil's arrival raises a lot of questions. Drew worries that he's headed in the same direction as his father, who seemed happy until his death, and he wonders if Phil could be his real father (he certainly knows a lot about Drew's family). As Audrey and Drew become friendly, she helps him find information, but knowing more doesn't make anything less confusing. In a story about the aftermath of parental suicide, former children's librarian Bishop (14 Hollow Road) tells a touching and believable story about the ways worries feed on each other, the difference that honesty makes to kids, and how much emotional growth a child Drew's age can experience in just a few weeks. Ages 8 12.
